|
Date |
Event(s) |
1 | 1839 | - 1839: First Opium War between Britain and China (to 1842) – Britain captures Hong Kong
- 1839: Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan refines the primitive bicycle, adding a
mechanical crank drive to the rear wheel, thus creating the first true "bicycle" in the modern
sense
- 1839: Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber
|
2 | 1840 | - 1840: Population Act relating to taking of censuses in Britain
- 1840: Last convicts landed in NSW (some say 1842 or 1849, but these probably landed
elsewhere)
- 10 Jan 1840: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
|
3 | 1841 | - 1841: Thomas Cook starts package tours
- 10 Feb 1841: Penny Red replaces Penny Black postage stamp
- 6 Jun 1841: June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded (Population 18.5M)
|
4 | 1842 | - 1842: Income Tax reintroduced in Britain
- 30 Mar 1842: Ether used as an anaesthetic for the first time (by Dr Crawford Long in America)
- 29 Aug 1842: Treaty of Nanking – End of First Opium War – Britain gains Hong Kong
|
5 | 1843 | - 1843: First Christmas card in England
- 27 May 1843: The Great Hall of Euston station opened in London
- 19 Jul 1843: Brunel's 'Great Britain' launched
|
6 | 1844 | - 6 Jun 1844: YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams
|
7 | 1845 | - 1845: Tarmac laid for first time (in Nottingham)
- 17 Mar 1845: The rubber band patented by Stephen Perry
|
8 | 1846 | - 10 Sep 1846: The sewing machine is patented by Elias Howe
|
9 | 1847 | - 1847: US Mormons make Salt Lake City their centre
- Jan 1847: An anaesthetic used for the first time in England (James Simpson used ether to numb the pain of labour)
|
10 | 1848 | - 1848: First commercial production of chewing gum
- 24 Jan 1848: Gold found at Sutter's Mill, California – starts the California gold rush
- 11 Jul 1848: Waterloo railway station in London opens
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11 | 1849 | - 1849: Florin (2 shilling coin) introduced as the first step to decimalisation – which finally
occurred in 1971!
|
12 | 1851 | - 1851: Gold discovered in Australia
- 1 May 1851: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ("Crystal Palace" exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
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13 | 1852 | - 1852: Tasmania ceases to be a convict settlement
- 1852: Wells Fargo established in USA
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